Excavation

Safety
Handbook
FOR EMERGENCY RESPONDERS
 Table of Contents
Safety Checklist.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Purpose of this Handbook. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Reference Guide for Common Excavation Types.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Additional reference points on an excavation jobsite.. . . . . . . . . . 18

Top 5 Facts you need to know about an excavation

construction site. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Provincial Regulations Guiding Excavations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Emergency Planning on our Sites. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Common Terms / Definitions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

2
 Why have I been
called to this
worksite ?
Safe Excavation
Construction
Site Checklist Utilize checklist
to expedite
Injury / Illness
at the worksite
injury response (no collpase)

1 Identify the Site Supervisor for a situational debrief.

Trench Collapse
2 Confirm the nature of the emergency.

3 Visually, does the excavation match what the supervisor is saying?

Confirm with site supervisor the appropriate access and egress into/
4 out of the excavation or shoring system.

Follow training 5 Confirm with supervisor how to get injured worker(s) in and out.

protocol Determine what resources are need for a safe rescue.

6 a. Available on-site
b. Required from off-site
4 5
 Purpose of this
Guidelines Manual
The intent of this manual is to assist in the EMS
responses to injuries in or around an excavation
operation. It is NOT intended to provide guidance for a
rescue operation as a result of a trench/shaft collapse,
or atmospheric hazard.
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6
The handbook has been designed to
provide the emergency responders
with a simple to use reference
guide, to assist in coping with an
emergency response situation where
an excavation is involved.
Its intent is to familiarize EMS responders with
safety precautions that construction employers
must take according to the Occupational Health
and Safety Act (OHSA) and regulations, such that
the emergency responders can have confidence
in the stability of the excavations that they may
need to access.
Provincial OHSA regulations provide for three
means by which an employer can maintain a safe
excavation: 1) appropriate sloping; 2) installation of
shoring systems; and, 3) installation of a protective
shield or barrier system.
Reference Guide
for Common
Excavation Types
As noted throughout this document, there are
many different types of excavation work and
techniques, all of which serve their own individual
purposes and are utilized at different times.
OHSA regulations do not always require the
installation and use of a support system. There
are instances—including excavations into stable
rock, those of less than 1.2 meters in depth, and
when the excavation walls may be sloped in such
a manner that it will prevent collapse—where
support systems are simply unnecessary.
Typically, excavations can be grouped into
three primary categories:
1) Caisson Walls / Tunnel Shafts / Hydraulic
Bracing Systems.
2) Trench Boxes / Shields.
3) Sloping / Excavation into Stable Rock.
Included are a number of photographic examples of
these common excavation types to serve as a guideline
for what a safe excavation site may look like.

8 9
1. Caisson Walls / Tunnel Shafts / Hydraulic Bracing Systems
Caisson Wall
A Caisson Wall is composed of a series of vertically drilled holes which then filled
with concrete and are interlocked to form a concrete wall.
10
Tunnel Shaft
A Tunnel Shaft is a vertical opening designed by an engineer and may be a
caisson wall or an engineered support system. Shafts are used for supplying
equipment, personnel, and support systems to a horizontal tunnel excavation.
11
Hydraulic Shoring
Hydraulic shoring products are designed to prevent excavation cave-ins from
happening by exerting pressure back onto the walls greater than that trying to
collapse them. They are a simple and safe way to shore a trench being dug into
stable soil. They can be placed as fast as you excavate.
12
Slide Rail / Hydraulic Brace System / Engineered Support
System
Slide Rail is modular, dig and push style component shoring system that allows
contractors to push the system in place while digging the excavation to depth.
Hydraulic brace systems are adjusted hydraulically in multi-sided excavations.
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2. Trench Box / Shields
Trench Box
A trench box is designed as a worker protection system and is used to allow the
sides of an excavation to be cut vertical or near vertical which ensures ground
stability and to minimize the excavation area.
3. Sloping / Excavation into Stable Rock
Excavation into Stable Rock
An additional shoring system is not always necessary during an excavation, such
as when one occurs into solid, stable rock as per the picture below.

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Sloping Combined
Additional shoring is also unnecessary during digs into particular types of soil, Combined is a mixture of two excavation shoring types. Typically, this involves
where the excavation may be sloped as determined by a professional engineer the use of a bracing system at the bottom of the excavation, while the top
and according to provincial construction regulations. walls are sloped.

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Additional reference points on an excavation jobsite
Safe Access and Egress Points
Included below are common examples of access and egress into an excavation.
There are many other common and acceptable approaches as well.
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Dewatering and Sewer Bypass
Construction dewatering is the removal or draining of groundwater or surface
water from a construction site. This frequently involves the issue of submersible
dewatering pumps, centrifugal pumps, eductors, or the application of vacuum to
well points.
Sewer bypass typically occurs during the rehabilitation of existing sewer lines,
where the flow of sewage cannot simply be diverted; it must be “bypassed”—or
involves temporarily pumping sewage around the pipe being repaired or replaced.
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 Excavation or Trench?
An excavation is any man-made cut, cavity, trench or depression created as a
Top 5 Facts You Need to
result of earth removal.
Know about an Excavation
Construction Site

1 All shoring systems are designed by professional engineers.

EXCAVATION

How excavations are dug out and braced or supported

2
depends on the type of soil that is being removed, the
depth and width of the excavation, and the work activities
that will take place in the excavation, all of which is
governed by provincial regulations.

3
A trench is a specific type of narrow excavation where the depth is greater Each excavation has a specific safety plan developed
than the width, but the width is not greater than 4.6 meters. according to provincial standards and designed specifically
for excavations.

Under provincial regulations, supervisors are liable for up

4
to $25,000 if they are negligent in their duties on a jobsite
(for each charge incurred), while companies are liable for
up to $500,000 and can face federal criminal charges for
negligent actions.

The majority of emergency calls to sewer and watermain

5 construction sites are a result of injuries or medical issues

TRENCH

that are sustained on the jobsite that are unrelated to a

trench collapse.

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Provincial Regulations
Guiding Excavations
Ontario Regulation (O.Reg) 213/91 are
the Construction Project regulations
under the Occupational Health and
Safety Act (OHSA), with Part 3 and
4 specifically governing excavations,
tunnels, shafts, caissons, and
cofferdams. These sections strictly
guide how excavations are to be
designed, constructed, and maintained,
including the required support systems
and/or sloping requirements for the
excavation walls depending upon the
type of soil present.
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Any excavation deeper than 4 feet
shall be either sloped in accordance
with regulations or protected using
temporary shoring (examples of
typical sloping and temporary shoring
are included below in Section 9).
Protective structures must be
installed, used, maintained, and
dismantled in accordance with the
professional engineer’s design.
Drawings and instructions must be
kept at the site and made available
to workers.
Below are the specific requirements
for a contractor under the
Construction Regulations and
In addition to the requirements
under the Regulation for Construction
Project, there are also a number
Occupational Health and Safety
Act. If each of the below items
of provisions that an excavation
contractor must follow under the
can be reasonably identified, or Occupational Health and Safety Act,
explained and shown by the site including:
supervisor, then it is reasonable to
• Clearly identifiable access and egress
assume that the excavation site
point(s) from an excavation using
has been designed, constructed,
ladders, steps, ramps, or other safe
and maintained according to
means of entering and exiting.
good engineering practices and all
provincially regulated codes. • Ensuring that the appropriate
tools for the job are available.
• Remove debris and excavated soil
near excavation site, leaving a • Take into account any possible
minimum of one meter clear from environmental hazards in
the excavation lip [s. 233]. the excavation (e.g. rain, ice,
contaminated soils, sewage
• Section 234-242 of the regulation
effluent, hazardous atmospheres).
details all of the specific
requirements governing the • Keep a clear space between
support systems for excavation, equipment and material and the
which are manufactured according top of the excavation (1 metre)
to these specifications.
• Be aware of and limiting the
• The excavation is being kept movement of vehicles and mobile
reasonably free of water [s. 230]. equipment near the walls of the
excavation.
• Knowing the types of soil and
appropriate sloping, shoring or
shielding requirements for that soil
type, as approved by a professional
engineer [s. 226].
• Emergency plans on site [s. 17-18].
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Emergency
Planning
Beyond the regulated site design
prerequisites, Employers on an
excavation site are also obligated
to be prepared for emergency
situations according to Section 17 of
O.Reg 213/91. Section 17 requires a
contractor to have project-specific
written emergency procedures which
are posted in a conspicuous place on
the project site. In order to meet this
requirement, sites are typically over-
engineered to protect workers from a
“worst-case scenario.”
It must be understood, however,
that the vast majority of incidents
that occur on an excavation site are
unrelated to a “worst-case scenario”
(i.e. a collapsed trench). Falling objects
and materials, equipment mishaps,
illnesses or medical conditions, and
slips, trips, and falls result in the
overwhelming majority of calls for
EMS assistance on an excavation
construction site.
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In these situation, some of the injuries
typically occur due to:
• Non-occupational medical
emergency (e.g. heart attack,
allergic reaction, etc).
• Occupational illness (e.g. heat
stroke, exposure to pollutants, etc).
• Slips, trips, and falls from heights.
• Struck-by incidents (e.g. excavated
material or other objects falling
on workers).
The site supervisor is the site expert
and should be utilized by EMS
workers as such. He/She will have all
of the appropriate paperwork and
site specific information required
under the construction regulations,
OHSA, utility locates, etc, as well as
any municipal or contract specific
information pertaining to the
• Struck-by vehicles or moving
equipment.
• Exposure to underground services
(e.g. energized electrical cables,
etc.) or overhead electrical cables.
• Storage and handling of materials.
site. The site supervisor should be
consulted immediately upon EMS
arrival for a debriefing of the incident,
how it occurred, and what has been
done to expedite the process before
EMS workers have arrived on site. The
site supervisor should be identified
and utilized as a resource for
information related to the worksite.
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Common Excavation
Terms
Excavation
Any man-made cavity or depression in the earth (including its walls, floor, and
lip) formed by earth removal. An excavation is wider than it is deep.

Trench
A narrow excavation which is deeper than it is wide.

Spoil Pile
Soil removed from the trench, commonly found on the trench lip required to be
at least one metre away.

Shoring
Supporting component that resists a compressive force imposed by a load.

Trench Box
Free standing shield for the workers.

Egress
Entry and exit point of an excavation, required on trenches four feet or greater
in depth.

Toe
The area where the walls and floor intersect at the bottom of the trench.

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Mississauga, Ontario L4W 4Y4
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info@gtswca.org
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